Group discriminates against noncitizen

On Memorial Day, Americans again saluted our veterans and those
soldiers who have perished in defense of our country. We can never
say enough about those brave men and women who fought and died to
preserve our constitutional democracy and the freedoms we enjoy.
Somehow, a simple "thank you" seems woefully inadequate.

Maybe, a mere remembrance and recognition of their sacrifice and
an appreciation for the mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters,
sons and daughters left behind is all that is needed, but that
seems to be too much to ask for from one group —— the American Gold
Star Mothers Inc.

An organization started 77 years ago by women whose sons or
daughters had died fighting in America's wars, the group recently
created a swirl of controversy when it denied Ligaya Lagman
admission into its organization even though her son, Army Staff
Sgt. Anthony Lagman, was killed in Afghanistan last year when his
unit came under intense fire while flushing out enemy al-Qaida and
Taliban forces.

Lagman was buried with full honors in a military cemetery, yet
the Gold Star Mothers have denied Ligaya Lagman membership because
she does not meet their antiquated U.S. citizenship standard.
Apparently, Gold Star Mothers refuses to recognize that today's
military employs a diversity of noncitizens who serve with pride,
honor and dignity.

The rejection reportedly was based on the fact that Lagman is
not a U.S. citizen as required in the organization's charter.

Lagman, a Filipina, has been a legal resident and taxpayer of
this nation for more than 20 years. Her son gave the ultimate
sacrifice for his nation and yet this group has decided to bar her
membership because, in the words of Gold Star Mothers President Ann
Herd to the Associated Press: "There's nothing we can do; that's
what our organization says: You have to be an American citizen. We
can't go changing the rules every time the wind blows."

Such insensitivity and blatant discrimination by Herd and the
American Gold Star Mothers Inc. contradict the values we embrace as
a nation. It unfairly tarnishes the memory of those soldiers,
including Sgt. Anthony Lagman, who have died fighting to defend
those same values.

It would serve the American Gold Mothers Inc. well to revisit
early American history. For example, during the Civil War, Congress
passed a law in 1862 which allowed African Americans, both free and
those who had escaped slavery, to join the Union army. As soldiers,
they faced discrimination in the form of less pay, segregation and
noncitizen status. Yet, African Americans fought bravely to help
save our union. Roughly 200,000 African Americans served in union
ranks and about 37,000 lost their lives.

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass commenting on the opportunity
for African Americans to become soldiers said, "Just once let the
black man get upon his person the brass letters, U.S.; let him get
an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in
his pocket, and there is no power on Earth which can deny that he
has earned the right to citizenship."

If Douglass were alive today, he would staunchly defend Ligaya
Lagman's right to be a member of American Gold Star Mothers Inc.
She has honored her country and has indeed earned the right of
citizenship with the loss of a son who was fighting to preserve our
nation and everything it stands for. American Gold Star Mothers
Inc. should cease making excuses for discriminatory behavior and do
the right thing by admitting Lagman immediately into its
family.